Trimming mechanism for sewing machines



Jan. 6. 1 25- R. Ft. HUGHES, JR

TRIMMING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 24, 1919 68M 5 k 3 gun-L031 M Jan. 6, 1925. 1,521,626

- R. R HUGHES, JR

TRIMMING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept. 24, 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 "M I 0% J6 u I 2g (92 '1 a a! I 7 2 Y J] i 7 a I" 6 31 IIH FP e V E-: .9 6 7 a a 1 J I; J j

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' R. a. HUGHES, JR I TRIMMING MECHANISM FOR .SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept. 24, 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

UNITE STATES 1 1,521,626 A ENT rm- ROBERT E. HUGHES, JR, or, UTIOA, new Yon-K, AssIeNo 'ro UNION SPECIAL MA- CHINE-COMPANY,'OF CHIOAGG, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS. I

TRIMMIiNG MECHANISM Application filed September To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT R. HUGHES, J11, a citizen of the United States, residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trimming Mechanism for Sewing Machines, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The-invention relates: to new and useful improvements in sewing machines,and more particularly to a sewing machine having a trimming mechanism for trimming the edge portions of fabric sections which are subsequently stitched in fiat overlapped relation to each other. e e

An object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine of the above character, wherein the fabric section-s may be fed to the stitching mechanism with the edge portions thereof overlapped and said edge portions trimmed just in advance of the stitching mechanism and while in overlapped relation to each other.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above character having stitching mechanism for covering the edge portions of the fabric sections, and wherein the trimming devices are. so disposed as to cut the respective edges on parallel lines located within the limits of the stitching mechanism, so that said out edges will be covered. 7

These and other object will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. I i

In the drawings whichshow by way 1, the presser foot being omitted to show.

the parts beneath the same;

Figure 3 is a view partly in section and partly in front elevation of .the parts shown in Figure 1, the section being along the line aa,'. w I

' Figure 4: is a longitudinal sectional view through a part of the presser foot and a FOR SEWING MACHINES. a

24, 1919; Serial no. 325,853.

part of the work support, along'one of the trimming lines; I

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of. the

presser foot; V v Figure 6 is a view showing diagrammati cally two fabric sections and the trimming devices operating thereon;

' Figure 7 is: a view showing diagrammatis.

cally the fabric sections, the needles, thetrimming devices and their relation to the needles; r

Figure Sis a detail View. showing a side elevation and in plan one of the lower trim= ming members; I

Figure 9'is a diagrammatic view showing overlapped fabric sections which have been til'i nmed and stitched on my improved mac 1ne. I

"In the patent granted to Joseph Berger,

J r., November 20, 1917, NO. 1,247,072,.there ,is shown and described a -sewing machine having means for trimming the edge portions of two fabric sections and overlap ping said edge portions and subsequently stitching the same by f covering; stitches WlllOh cover the out edges and firmly'joifn the overlapped fabric sections. a V

The present invention is directed to. an im:

provement upon the machine o-fthis patent;

In said patent the edge portions are turned out of the plane of the fabric sections for trlmming and a specially constructed presser foot is necessary to bring said edge portions back into overlapped relation. My invention is directed, broadly, toa trimming mechanism which is provided withtrimming devices soydlsposed as to operate in} dependently upon the respective edge portions of the fabric sections for cutting the edges thereof and without turning the edge,

portions of the fabric sections' out of the plane of the fabric sections; as in said'Berger patent. These trimming devices maybe of any 'desiredtype for accomplishing the result. within the limits of the stitch forming mechanism, so that the threads of thestitch forming mechanism not only join the overlapped edge portions but cover thereof.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, Ihave shown theinvention as embodied in Said trimming devices are located the out edges a sewing machine having a 'worksupporting arm 1, which is provided with a' feed provided with three needles ,7, 8 and 9 ar-v ranged in a line at right angles to the line i of feed. These needlesjare carried by a needle barlO, which is reciprocated in the usual vmanner in the overhanging arm of the machine. Co-operating with the needles beneath the work support, is a thread carry ing looper 11 mounted on a loopercarrier 12, which is fixed to a looper shaft 13 extending lengthwise of the work supporting arm 1. In Figure 7 of the drawings, I have shown two fabric sections F and F the ed e portions of which are overlapped. The edge portion F iscut along the line f, while the edge portion F is out along the line F. This cutting takes place without turning the edge portion of the fabric sections out of the plane of the fabric sections to any appreciable extent, and said lines along which the fabric sections are cut pass just inside ofthe needles 7 and 9, respectively. The threads of the needles 7, 8 and 9, are shown, respectively, at n, n and a The cross thread is shown at 0' and the looper thread at Z. It will be seen that the edge portions of the fabric sections are joined by the stitching threads, the needle 8 passing through both fabric sections and the needles 7 and 9 passing through the respective fabric sections F and F only. The cross thread 0 on the up 3e1- side and the looper thread-e on the underside, which interlock with all the needle loops, cover these overlapped sections of the fabric and also cover the cut edges.

As above noted the invention is directed particularly to the trimming mechanism which cuts the fabricsections along theline indicated and in advance of the needles. The fabric section F is cut by two cooperating cutting devices 14 and 15, while the fabric section F is out along the line f by the cutting devices 16 and 17.

The cross thread 0 is led through a thread guide 18 and is laid into loops by means of a thread hook 1.9. This thread hook 19 is mounted on a carrier 20., which is oscillated by means of a link 21 connected to an arm 22. 1 The arm 22 is fixed to a shaft 23, mounted, in the overhanging arm. This shaft 23 is in turn oscillated by means of a link 24 connected to the outer end of an arm 25, fixed to'the shaft 23. This cross thread laying mechanism per se forms no part of the present invention, and is shown, described and claimed in the application of by a cross head 31.

James R. Moffatt, Serial No. 225,488, filed March 29, 1918, patented January 25, 1921,

a supporting shank, at the lower end of which is a forwardly projecting pointed cuttng member 26. Sa1d cutting member is rounded on its lower face and the upper edge thereof is the cutting edge. This cutting member is secured by a screw 26 to a supporting arm 27 projecting laterally from the collar 28 fixed to a vertically reciprocating shaft 29. Said shaft slides in suitable hearings in the overhanging arm. Also mounted in said bearings is a guide rod 30 which freely slides up and down in bearings in the overhanging arm. The vertical shaft29 and the guide rod 30 are connected Extending outwardly from the cross head is an arm 32, to which a link 33 is pivotally connected at its'lower end. A lever 34 is fulcrumed at 35 on the bracket 36 which carries the bearings for the vertical shaft 29 and the guide rod 30. This bracket is preferably clamped to the auxiliary presser rod 37 which is mounted in bearings in the overhanging arm. The lever 34 is pivotally connected at its outer end to the link 33. The other end of this lever 34 is connected to a link 38 'which is pivoted at 39 to the arm 25. As the arm 25 oscillates, it will swing the lever 34 and this will raise and lower the vertical shaft 29 and thus reciprocate the trimming device 14.

Associated with this movable trimming device 14 is the fixed trimming blade 15. This fixed trimming blade 15 is secured to the bracket 36. The auxiliary presser rod 37 moves up and down in the usual manner with the presser foot and therefore the trimming devices 14 and 15 will move .up and down with the presser foot and may be raised with the presser foot to facilitate the removal of the fabric from the machine. The presser foot is formed with an opening 41,, see Figures '1, 4 and 5, in which these trimming devices operate. Said presser foot is also provided with a recessed portion 42, in its underface, which permits the fabric section F which overlaps the fabric sec tion F to be raised by the projecting blade 26 of the cutting device 14. In other words this pointed projecting blade 14, with its under rounded face, serves the double function of separating the two layers of fabric and of co-operating with the stationary blade in the cutting of the upper layer only. The cutting device 14 is so disposed that the shank of this cutting device is directly in front of the needle 7 and said shank serves as a separating means for deflecting the trimmed off edge of the fabric section F to the left of the needle 7 see Figure 7- of the drawings. The cutting face of the trimming device 14 is substantially in line with the inner surface of the needle 7,"so that the cutting edge passesjust inside the vertical path of sad needle. The cutting" devices 16 and 17 operate upon the lowersection of the fabric only The cutting device I? is formed with a shank which projects ftpwardly and at its upper end said shank a forwardly projecting blade 17 which: is shaped similar to the blade 26 except that the rounded face is en the upper edge of said projecting blade and the cutting edge is on the lower port on of" the blade.- This cutting device 17 is carried by a reciprocatingl slide 44 which is mounted to reciprocate Vertically in a frame 45. vThis frame 45' is provided with an arm 46 which extends along the lower face of the werk supporting arm and is secured thereto by screws 47; The shaft 18 is extended andhas a hearing in said frame 46; Said shaft is provided with a cam 48 whichoperates upon the reciprocating slide 44 to positively raise and lower the same, thus the trin nning device 17 is vibrated up and down-.- "The"coo perating trimming device 16- is' fixed; said device Toeing in the form of an inclined blade mounted in a suitable recess the frame 46 and secured therein by a screw 49, see Figure L The presser foot is formed with a recess- 50 located directly above this movable cutting device 17 and the upper'layer' of the fabric will be raised by the cutting device, the forwardly projecting blade serving the double function of separating the layers of fabric and co-operating with the fixed cutting device for cutting said lower layerof fabric only. The end cap 51 for closing the end of the work supporting arm has a dovetail connectionwith the throat plate 52' of the machine and also has a recess to receive the bracket 46 firmly fitting the side edges there on, as clearly shown in Figure 3.

From the above, it will be apparent that the two fabric sections to be joined may be overlapped and led directly into the ma-- chine without turning: said edge portions out of the plane of the fabric sections; The cutting devices 14 and 17 will pass between the two fabric sections, raising the upper fabric section from the lower fabric sectionat spaced lines on which the cutting is to be performed. The cutting device 14 as it recipro'cates trims olf the edge of the fab ric section F and along the line just at the right of the needle 7and deflectsthe cut off strip away from the needle, while the cutting device 17 as it reciprocates will trim off the edge of the fabric section F along the line just to the left of the" needle 9 a' nd the shank of this cut-ting device wll deflect the trimmed off strip to the right of the parallel lines, which parallel lines of cutting arewithirr the limits of the stitching me'char nism-that is, between the needles 7 and 9. so that the edge portions will be united-and the catedges thereof eoverecl by the stitching threads.- j I While I have shown the invention s ap plied: to a machine wherein the fabric sec-- tions are unitedb'y three need-lesan'd the "m cat edges covered, it will be obvious that; in certain aspects of the invention; form of stitching meehanisnrmay be; used in conne'c tion with my trimming devices which oper' ate to prepare the edge portions of over-- lappedfahric sectionswithout turning said edge portions out of the plane of the fabric sectionsat least, to any appreciable extent.

It is alseobvi'eas that minor changes; in the details of construction andthe arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as set forth in the appendedclaims.

' Having thus: described my invcntion,what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let. ters Pit-tennis:

r. The combination with feeding mechanism and covering stitching mechanism for feeding and stitching two overlapped fabric sections and covering the edgesof the sections; of a trimming mechanism including independent trinnning devicesflocated in front er the stitching mechanism, each of trimming devices having cooperating cuttingmembers located so as to cut the re-- spective edge portions only of the fabric sections said trimming devices being so dis:

lapped,- and said trimming devices being so' 7 disposed: that said overlapped portions lie. Within the limits of the covering stitching mechanisme H The combination with stitching-mean anis'mincl lrdi-ng devices for forming ccver ing titches, and feeding mech nism for feeding t'wo overlapped flat fabric sections to the stitching mechanism, or a trimming mechanism including devices dis-posed front of the stitching mechanism for cutting the respective edge portions only of the fabric sections along spaced parallel lines, Within the limits of the covering stitching mechanism.

4:. The combination with stitching mechanism including devices for forming coverng stitches, and feeding mechanism for feeding two overlapped flat fabric sections to the stitching mechanism, of a trimming mechanism including devices disposed in front of the stitching mechanism forkcutting the respective edge portions onlyof the fabric sections along spaced parallel lines Within the limits of the covering stitching mechanism, the trimming devices operating to deflect. the respective trimmed oifedges outside of the limits of the covering stitching mechanism. i 5. The combination with stitchingmechanism including devices for forming covering stitches, a work supporting arm, and a feeding mechanism for feeding overlapped fabric sections on to said arm, of a trimming mechanism including trimming devices disposed in front of the stitching mechanism for cutting the respective edge portions only along spaced parallel lines within thelimits of the covering stitching mechanism.

6. The combination with stitching mechanism including devices for forming cover- -ing stitches, a work supporting arm, and

a feeding mechanism for feeding overlapped fabric sections on to saidarm, of a trimming mechanism including trimming devices dise posed in front of the stitching mechanism for cuttin the respective edge portions only along spaced parallel lines within the limits of the covering stitching mechanism,- said trimming devices operating to deflect the respective trimmed off edgeportions outside of the limits of the covering stitching. mech anism. r 7 The combination with a covering stitch forming mechanism including a 1 plurality of needles arranged in a line atright angles to the line of feed, and a feeding mechanism for feeding overlapped fabric sections to the stitching mechanism, of a trimming mechanism including. devices for cutting the respective edge portions ofthe overlapped fabric sections along spaced lines and inad Vance of. said stitchingneedles, said cutting lines being within the outer needles of the stitching mechanism, whereby the cutedges will be covered by the stitching threads.

8. The combination with covering stitching mechanism and a feeding mechanlsm for feeding overlapped fabric sections, of a trimming mechanism including trimming devices operating to separate said fabric sec-, tions and trim, the edge portions of said fabric sections along spaced lines, said stitching mechanism including a plurality. of needles arranged in a line at right angles to the line of feed and Withthe outer needles outside of. the respective cut edges of the fabric sections, whereby said out edges may be covered.

ing mechanism, and. a trimming mechanism including laterally spaced trimming devices disposed so as to trimrespectively the edges of theioverlapped fabric sections, said trimming devices being disposed so that the cut edges are within the limits of the covering stitches and covered thereby.

.11. A sewing machine including in combination, a tubular Work supporting arm, an overhanging arm, covering stitch forming mechanism, and a trimming mechanism ineluding a pairofHco-operating trimming members carried bythe overhanging arm, and a pair of co-operating trimming members carried by the work supporting arm, said .pairs of trin'iming members being constructedand disposed-seas to operate respectively upon the upper and lower layers of overlapped fabric sections, said pairs of trimming,members being laterally spaced and disposed relative ,to the covering stitching mechanism so that the fabric sections passing from the trimming mechanism will have their edges overlapped and covered. 12., A sewing machine including in combinationyatubular work supporting arm, anoverhanging arm,.covering stitch form ing-mechanism,-a trimming mechanism in cluding laterally spaced pairs of trimming blades,one pair being supported by the overhangingarm andthe other pair'being supported by the work supporting arm, a presser .foot; having, an opening formed therethrough for the trimming'blades carriedby the overhanging arm and a recess formed'in its underface .forthe trimming blades.. carried by the work supporting arm.

.13. A sewingqmaehine including in combination, atubular work supporting arm, a looper shaft extending lengthwise of, said arm, a looper, carried thereby, an overhanging arm, needles carried by said overhangingarm, a trimming blade carried by the work supportingarm andhaving an over hanging cutting edge, a movable blade cooperating therewith, "and means operatively carriedbythe looper shaft for reciproeating the movableblade.

In testimony whereof, I afiiX my signature.

-' AROBEBT R. l-IUGHES, JR.-- 

